Baltimore County, MD Public Conduct: Loud Party Ordinance (2026)

Baltimore County Code Section 13-7-131 defines an unruly social gathering as a party, event, or assemblage of four or more people at a residence or other private property where alcohol is furnished to or possessed by an underage person, or where conduct causes a substantial disturbance, including excessive noise under Section 17-3-103, excessive traffic for the zoning district, drug use, obstructed streets, public drunkenness, fights, vandalism, public urination, or littering. Section 13-7-132 makes it unlawful for a property owner or any 'responsible person,' defined broadly to include anyone who organizes, supervises, or accepts responsibility for the event even without being present, to conduct, cause, aid, allow, permit, or condone the gathering.

Family gatherings supervised by an adult relative and legally protected religious activities are excluded, as are gatherings involving domestic violence or sexual assault allegations. Under Section 13-7-133, police issue a warning to the property owner for a first offense and a citation for the second and later offenses. Section 13-7-135 gives the property owner a defense if they neither authorized nor knew of the gathering in advance and took action to regain possession of a leased unit.